Decision Analysis Options

Within the Run section of the Home tab there are several options that should be considered prior to a Decision Analysis run. These options allow you to generate certain distributions and policy outputs and record endpoints with your run.

Distributions

If you would like to generate a Risk Profile Chart, be sure that the Risk Profile drop down box doesn't have (none) selected. For models with a single attribute/objective function, Objective Function will be be selected by default. This means DPL will create a risk profile for the expected value of the Objective Function under the optimal policy (best alternative) only. If you have multiple attributes or objective functions in your model, select the desired quantity from the drop down box. You can have DPL create a risk profile for a single attribute/objective function, all attributes, all objective functions or all attributes and objective functions.

If the Init Dec Alts (Initial Decision Alternatives) box is checked DPL will gather risk profile data for all of the alternatives for the initial decision for comparison.

If you are running a Monte Carlo simulation, the risk profile chart generated will be displayed in frequency histogram format by default. This display setting can be changed within the Chart | Format | Display group.

Policy outputs

You can choose which policy outputs you would like DPL to generate. Check the boxes next to Policy Tree, Policy Summary, and/or VOIC (Expected Value of Perfect Information/Control) to have DPL generate these outputs.

DPL also allows you select the number of policy levels to display in the Policy Tree. The default is set to all levels, but if you have a very large decision tree you may want to reduce the number of levels to save memory. If you're requesting a VOIC chart, the maximum number of levels must be saved.

Endpoints

Check the Endpoints box to have DPL record an endpoint database for the run. The endpoint database allows you to "replay" the endpoints to quickly perform further analyses without recalculation. Endpoints can only be recorded if the evaluation method is Full tree enumeration.

Check the Value Correlations box to have DPL calculate Value Correlations. This box is only available if the evaluation method is Full tree enumeration.

Versions: DPL Professional, DPL Enterprise, DPL Portfolio

See Also

Policy Trees

Risk Profile Charts

Policy Summaries

Run Settings dialog

Evaluation Method

Discrete Tree Simulation Options

Recording Endpoints

Play Endpoints Options